MBTA promises more Worcester-Boston trains by end of February

Wednesday

Jan 22, 2014 at 5:46 PM

By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

BOSTON — The MBTA has missed planned launch dates for the expanded commuter rail service from Worcester to Boston, but MBTA General Manager Beverly A. Scott said Wednesday the city will see the start of 40 trains per day to and from Boston by the end of February.

Ms. Scott said that while the new schedule was set to go into effect on Jan. 13, and then pushed back to Jan. 27, several factors have held up the new schedule. She said the MBTA is not yet scheduling a new date for the expanded service, but hopes to give commuters notice next month.

"We want to give people at least a couple of weeks notice," she said, adding that she did not want to again set a date for the start of service until all the details are completed.

Besides obtaining various certifications and completing some construction, the MBTA is making last-minute changes to the new schedule from an earlier version published this month.

She said the agency received significant response to the planned schedule at community meetings and from about 500 commuters who completed questionnaires about the new schedule. As a result, the MBTA is considering "tweaks" to the schedule, but none of the changes will reduce the promised 40 weekday trips.

The earlier promised startup dates proved to be overly optimistic, she said.

Some of the schedule changes now being considered involve decisions over which trains will be express trains and which will include local stops, she said.

"You can't have an express and still stop everywhere," she said. "There will be some tweaks. ... Nothing that impacts the 40 trains in Worcester."

The MBTA has been planning the expanded service to Worcester for decades.

The authority has been able to increase train service because the state last year bought the track used for local commuter rail service from CSX Corp.

That acquisition has allowed the MBTA to assume responsibility for train dispatch and maintenance of the tracks, which are still used by CSX freight trains.

During the weekday, three more trains are scheduled to go Boston's Back Bay and South Station, while four more trains will make the trip to Worcester.

In all, there will be 20 trips from Worcester to Boston and 20 trips from Boston to Worcester.